Crest High senior standout Kyle Hammond may be looking in a mirror Tuesday when the Lancers pay a visit to South Barber High to open the Eight Man, Division II playoffs.
Much like Crest relies on Hammond to provide much of the team’s rushing and passing yards, South Barber sophomore sensation Peyton Yandel has proven to be a dual threat as well.
Yandel, 5-8, 150 pounds, averages 119 passing yards and 103 rushing yards per game to pace the 7-2 Chieftains. He’s thrown 19 touchdowns and rushed for 19 more.
“We’re going to have to play good defense and contain the Yandel kid,” Crest head coach Brent Smith said. “They like to run the spread, go no-huddle, much like Chetopa has done. We’ll have to limit their opportunities.”
Yandel is hardly South Barber’s only threat.
“They’ve got a number of underclassmen who have stepped up for them,” Smith said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Other key performers for South Barber include sophomore running back Dylan Allison, who has rushed for 565 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Senior Jace Thurman, meanwhile, is South Barber’s leading receiver with 516 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Crest has a number of experienced performers, leading with Hammond’s 1,443 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns on the ground, and his 857 passing yards.
Senior Jordan Morton has tossed eight touchdown — on only 28 attempts — for the Lancers, while rushing for 208 yards on the season. He’s also a leading receiver with 394 yards and five touchdowns. Brock Ellis usually is the target of choice, regardless of who’s throwing the ball. Ellis has 40 receptions for 339 yards and six touchdowns. Dylan Sedlak adds 260 rushing yards to the mix.
“They have a good linebacker (Connor Black) who is athletic and somebody we’ll have to be concerned with,” Smith said. “When we’re on offense, we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Tuesday’s game kicks off at 6 o’clock due to the lengthy commute for Crest. The game will be at South Barber’s football field in Kiowa, more than 220 miles from Colony.
South Barber awaits Crest
